The New Mexico State softball team won the battle, but UNM won the war.
In the series finale of the Rio Grande Rivalry, the Aggies took a 6-0 decision from the Lobos on Tuesday at Lobo Field.
But it was UNM who came out victorious. The Lobos won the Rio Grande Rivalry all-sports competition by a final score of 18.75 to 8.25.
“We fought hard,” head coach Erica Beach said. “It was disappointing for us because we wanted to play well for our home crowd. But we gave it everything we had, and that’s all I can ask of my team.”
NMSU improved to 33-12 on the year, while UNM dropped to 17-18.
“It’s a tough loss to swallow,” said Lobo second baseman Chelsea Anaya, who went 2-for-3 from the plate. “It’s NMSU and they’re our biggest rival. Of course you want to play your best and win against them, but we weren’t able to do that.”
With Tuesday’s win, NMSU enacted a bit of revenge. Last time out it was the Lobos who were a 3-2 winner in Las Cruces on April 4, snapping a four-game losing streak in the series.
It was NMSU’s visibly larger line-up that dominated the game, out-hitting the Lobos nine to six.
The Aggies also boasted the powerful bat of designated hitter Hoku Nohara, who leads the nation with 20 homeruns on the year and is hitting an impressive .456. Nohara missed the first UNM game, but has since returned to the Aggie line-up after being charged with a felony count of aggravated battery against a teammate.
“We knew that she was going to be a tough out,” Beach said. “We didn’t allow their best player to beat us. But at the same time, they showed their strength up and down their line-up.”
The Lobo pitching staff held Nohara to only one single on the night, but Nohara was walked twice.
It was Aggie left fielder Tiare Jennings who slammed a homerun over right-center in the sixth inning to cap a four-run sixth inning that was the nail in the coffin for the Lobos.
“They’d seen both of our pitchers already this season,” Beach said. “The second or third time around is when you’re able to get used to certain go-to pitches, and they did a better job of making the adjustments at the plate and making contact.”
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NMSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning behind the bats of Aggie third baseman Ashley Maroda, who singled up the middle to knock in NMSU’s first run. Then, Lobo sophomore pitcher Kari Gutierrez walked Aggie first baseman Teresa Conrad for the second run. NMSU never looked back.
“We had a couple of big innings offensively, too,” Beach said. “Had one more hit dropped in, we might have been in the game. But we just couldn’t get any runners across the plate.”
